BlueStamp’s TED Talk!

This past weekend, BlueStamp had the honor of presenting at TEDx Presidio in San Francisco, California.  There were many great speakers and we were excited to meet so many like minded individuals.  Thanks to all of our students for their incredible work over the past few years.  You all are the stars of BlueStamp Engineering!

Robin speaks at TEDx

‘Production & Promise’ Part 6: Meet Ariel Z.

‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.

The next Bluestamp engineer we’ll meet is Ariel Z. Ariel is entering her senior year at Brearley High School, and wants to study biomedical engineering in college.  She’s also interested in nanotechnology, and says she likes to see the direct effect that research has on people’s lives. Like the rest of our Bluestampers, Ariel has diverse interests outside the classroom; she’s a drummer, she plays squash and badminton, and she represented Chile at the Harvard Model United Nations. Ariel’s summer project was a robotic arm; she called it Voldemort!

‘Production & Promise’ Part 6: Meet Iltimas D.

‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.

The next Bluestamp Engineer we’ll meet is an incoming junior named Iltimas D. Iltimas has an animated personality with varied interests; he’s a long boarder (as you can tell from his instructable) and a drummer, and he wants to study aerospace in college. His BSE summer project was a mini wind turbine; it was fully designed by his own research to be of smaller size for Manhattan living, and he called it his “baby”. Asked about the Bluestamp program, he said “I’m so glad I did it”; he also enjoyed assisting his fellow Bluestampers in their efforts thanks to his broad interests in all disciplines of engineering.

‘Production & Promise’ Part 5: Meet Tasha M.

‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.

The next Bluestamp engineer we’re going to meet is Tasha M, who is entering her senior year at the NYC Lab School. Along with her interest in engineering, Tasha is deeply concerned with social issues; the summer before she became a Bluestamp engineer, she went to Stanford University’s campus to study law and engaged in mock trials. Tasha is interested in political science, and is considering studying immigration law or intellectual property–and last but not least, she’s studied classical piano for most of life. Her diverse array of interests shows that one need not only be interested in engineering to become a capable engineer! Tasha’s summer project was a GPS tracking device that uses an ATMEL microcontroller and a GPS module.

‘Production & Promise’ Part 3: Meet Kadeem T.B.

‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.

The next Bluestamp engineer we’ll meet is Kadeem T.B., who goes to school with Deondre at Harlem’s Promise Academy. He’s also entering his senior year, and is considering Duke and Morehouse for college. He and Deondre have been friends since the third grade! Quiet in disposition, Kadeem offered some thoughtful insights about his opportunity at Bluestamp; he appreciated the chance to do more “hands-on” work, and he enjoys the “preciseness of the engineering field”. He offered another observation that some will consider sobering: “statistically, where I’m from, we ain’t gonna make it”…this sort of thing is exactly why Kadeem, like all of our aspiring engineers, is a good candidate for Bluestamp’s program. When all the students were asked to make a statement, he said “thank you for believing in us”…he also does the ‘pay it forward’ thing, engaging in community service work with fellow Bluestamper Deondre.

‘Production & Promise’ Part 4: Meet Deondre C.

‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.

The next Bluestamp engineer we’re going to meet is Deondre. Deondre’s an incoming senior at the Promise Academy in Harlem; he’s charismatic and easygoing, and in his own words, he “learned a lot this summer”. Along with being a basketball enthusiast, Deondre volunteers at a food kitchen in his spare time, and has traveled as far as Alaska with his family and the Galapagos Islands with his science class. He hopes to attend Carnegie Mellon, and his Bluestamp project was a laser security system. He’s considering applying for next summer’s Bluestamp program, as well. Good luck Deondre!

A Note From A Parent – Karen Z.

Robin and I just received a note from Ariel’s mom and were happy to read that her daughter, like our other students, greatly benefited from the BSE approach of having students take the driver’s seat when solving problems.   While going up against these challenges is tiring, the resulting accomplishment truly belongs to the student.  Thank you Karen!

Our daughter, Ariel, was both exhausted and exhilarated (it’s possible) when she came home every night during the six-week 2011 BlueStamp Engineering (BSE) summer program. Exhausted, because Robin, David and their assistants kept Ariel thinking hard about the engineering challenges she faced every day. Exhilarated, because of the true sense of accomplishment Ariel felt as she faced and resolved these challenges. During the school year, Ariel attends a rigorous academic high school, but has never been as consistently challenged intellectually as she was during the BSE program. In order to build her robotic arm, Ariel had to master on her own many disciplines: from mechanical design to firmware and software coding, electrical engineering and testing. Significantly, the BSE program required Ariel to perform like an engineer in a corporate setting. Each day Ariel began by listing her goals for the day in an engineering notebook, and each evening she marked what was accomplished and what additional efforts were required during the next day. When challenges and unanticipated problems arose, Ariel would consult with the BSE staff, but the task of solving the problem was left to Ariel.  She greatly enjoyed the way the BSE teachers would video record her triumphs after she had resolved a particularly difficult problem.  She also shared in the joys and disappointments of her fellow “engineers” as they proceeded with their own projects. We could go on and on, but the bottom line is that Ariel had a great time and gained tremendous confidence in her ability to achieve in a challenging environment. Kudos to Robin, Dave and the rest of the BSE staff.

‘Production & Promise’ Part 3: Meet Sam F.

‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.

Our next young engineer is  a mild-mannered fellow named Sam F.  One of the few in Bluestamp’s  inaugural class who’s only entering his sophomore year, Sam goes to Staten Island Technical High School.  Sam’s calm disposition belies an intensity and apparent centeredness that seem beyond his years. His summer project was a CD player, though he was only present at the first of my visits, it seemed to be coming along nicely–as he filled the room with, among other things, old Beatles tunes. Thanks for the soundtrack, Sam, and keep engineering!

A Note From A Parent – Natasha F

Here is a wonderful note from Natasha, Sam’s mom.   It is great to hear a parent echo what we tell others about students — they are committed and face their challenges head on.  Thanks Natasha!

Ever since Sam was a little kid he has had a fascination with how things work, building and fixing things, and getting under the hood of anything mechanical.  BSE was the ideal program for Sam to tap into his natural proclivity towards engineering and realize how that affinity can be adapted to his future course of study. From the very first step of selecting the project, to building his own boom box, to producing technical drawings, Sam showed an unprecedented commitment to completing the challenge.  In addition to the project work, the inclusion of guest speakers was a notable aspect of BSE, and one that had tremendous appeal to Sam.  It was surprising and gratifying to observe how positively Sam responded to the talks given by “real life” engineers.  Robin and Dave, the creators of Blue Stamp, are pros and dedicated to educating kids about the principles and business of engineering.  I would highly recommend this program to fledgling engineers.

A Note From a Parent – Kathleen K.

We were happy to hear that Kathleen saw that her son, James,  not only learned about coding and circuits, but many lessons from the excellent guests we had visit the classroom.  Thank you Kathleen!

My son has always been interested in science but wasn’t entirely sure what an ‘engineer’ did.  He is about to apply to colleges and so wanted to find out if engineering was something he might want to pursue. Blue Stamp not only gave him hands on experience in how an engineer works and what an engineer does but also gave him insight into forming a start-up company with an engineering idea.  He learned from the many guest speakers of their experiences with trying to bring a product into production.  He also learned many valuable lessons in formulating an idea, modifying it, troubleshooting it and finding help online for programming or troubleshooting.  The supervision and assistance in the classroom was hands-on and first rate and I don’t think James could have had a better experience anywhere.  I highly recommend this program.

Kathleen K.